Frederic Remington

Frederick Remington was one of the greatest painters, sculptors,
and illustrators of his time. He illustrated scenes of war during
the Spanish-American War.

Biography:

Frederic
Remington was born in 1861 in Canton, New York, the son of a Republican
newspaper publisher named Seth Pierre who was a Colonel in the cavalry
and a Civil war commander. His mother was named Clara Sackrider.
From his father, he inherited an interest in the cavalry and military operations.
He did not, however, inherit his father’s trim figure, as Remington was
5 foot 9 inches and weighed in at 300 pounds. In his youth, Remington
enjoyed hunting and was also an avid horseman. Remington attended
the Highland Military Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts through his high
school years. Afterwards, he was educated at the Yale College School
of Art where he was not the best of students and preferred playing football
over art.

He returned home in 1880 after the death of his father.
He was given a minor position in the state capitol through the influence
of an uncle. His first cartoon was printed (and redrawn) by Harper’s
Weekly in 1882. He is today considered one of the premier illustrators
of his time. He detested the commercialization of art; he felt publishers
sacrificed art and truth to action and sensationalism. Remington
preferred to draw his favorite subject, horses, but he also enjoyed drawing
Indians, soldiers, and cowboys.

In 1884, Remington proposed to a women named Eva Caten, but
she refused him so he moved out west to Kansas, where he invested in a
hardware store and a Salon. He visited New York a few years later,
and again proposed to Eva Caten, who again refused him. The next
year he returned home again, proposed to Eva for the third time, yet this
time she agreed to marry him. Later that year, they were married.
The next year they moved back to Brooklyn, New York. In 1886, Remington
attended the Art Students League in New York City. In February of
1888, his illustrations appeared in Theodore Roosevelt’s
serialized articles for Century Magazine, later published as Ranch Life
and the Hunting Trail. Remington’s many works were shown in
many galleries throughout the rest of his life.

During the Spanish-American war, Remington worked for the New
York Journal under William Randolph Hearst
as a war correspondent. In 1897, prior to the sinking of the U.S.S.
Maine, he was sent to Cuba to cover the Spanish holding Cuban prisoners
in “death camps.” Remington’s job was to draw pictures of Spanish
atrocities and the battles taking place in the revolution. Once there,
he was very unhappy and found more comfort in the Navy gunboats offshore
to working in the fields, He wrote to his employer “There is no war.
Request to be recalled.” To this, Hearst, in story that could never
be verified, reputedly responded with “Please remain. You furnish the pictures,
I’ll furnish the war.” Newspaper editors at this time, especially
Hearst,
would create stories about the war if there were none worth reporting.
Each day, Hearst managed to fill the Journal
with eight pages of information on the war. It was Remington’s job
to create the illustrations of what went on with the war. It was
because of this disillusionment that Remington began to sculpt in bronzes.

Afterwards, Remington was sent to cover Theodore
Roosevelt’s campaign, where he preferred to study the rear echelons
over the front lines. Still, he was present during the "Rough
Riders'" assault on Kettle and San Juan Hills.

Later, he constructed a sculpture, entitled "The Bronco-buster,"
that was given by the Rough Riders to their commander
Theodore
Roosevelt as the date of their mustering out as a unit drew near.
After covering the war, Remington was fascinated by how the average American
man fit into his environment more than he cared to glamorize the “super
heroes” of war.

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt says goodbye to his
"Rough Riders." Frederic Remington's "The Bronco Buster," a gift from the
men to their commander sits on the table behind Roosevelt.

Frederick Remington died on December 26, 1909 at his studio
and home in New Rochelle, New York from the effects of an appendicitis
attack.

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